Artificial
by nosilverbullets
Summary: "Look, I know what she did was bad but this could seriously mess with her forever, Bella I didn't think you could do something like..." She stopped his words with an acidic glare. "Just goes to show how little you know about me." Ouch. "She can't walk all over me…" She turned to him fully. "And neither can you, Paul." . AU, Bella/Embry, Bella/Paul, Angela/Paul, Angela/Embry
1. Hidden

**A.N. Hey guys, I'm back with a new sort of short story. I hope you enjoy it!  
Btw, rated M for violence, adult issues and domestic violence a little, I guess. Btw, I incorporated a lot of ideas form my favourite shows and dramas (GTO) into this one so don't be surprised if something pops up. Hope you don't notice it though, or it might ruin it for you. Anyway enjoy!**

Bella and Angela walked together through the halls of La Push High.

Angela talked.

Bella listened.

It had always been that way with them.

But then her voice trailed off as she caught sight of something; a large smile broke out on her face as she saw Paul, standing alone.

He was usually with his best friend Jared, but he was never around these days.

Angela was tugged towards him like there was an invisible string pulling her; Bella smiled and shook her head.

Angela looked back over at her and gestured for her to join them when she had finally managed to detach her mouth from Paul's.

Bella laughed this time and hiked her bag up higher on her shoulders before making her way towards them; but of course, she stumbled and fell.

Because it was a very Bella thing to do.

Her eyes squeezed shut as she braced herself for the impact….

But it never came.

Bella's eyes opened very slowly and she peered up into beautiful dark brown, almost black eyes.

His tanned lips stretched into a smirk as he set her down on her feet.

She blushed and looked away before bending down and gathering the things that had fallen out of her bag.

He helped her with the rest but she was yet to look at him for a second time.

"Thanks Embry." She said clearly.

He lifted her face to his and flashed her another sexy smile before walking away.

Bella shook her head and tried to get her heart rate regulated again.

She wasn't into him….

But she could see herself being into him someday.

But not today.

But he was gorgeous.

And he smelled gorgeous.

This encounter had almost made her regret rejecting him all those times when he had asked her out.

_Almost. _

_**-BP-AP-EB-EA-**_

__"So Bella, wanna hang out with us after school today? We're goin' to the movies." Angela offered before taking another bite of her sandwich. Paul slung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her onto his lap while she ate.

Angela turned to him with a curiosity in her eyes.

"You're really warm. Are you feeling okay?" She sounded worried.

"I'm fine." He replied.

Bella nibbled on her apple and stared at them from her side of the lunch table.

She realised that Angela had forgotten all about the question she had just asked.

_Is that how love works?_ She wondered.

Bella had never really loved someone of the opposite sex before, not even a crush.

She doubted that she ever would.

Soon lunch was over and it was time for their third class.

As usual, Bella took notes that she would never need in order to occupy her fingers.

She already knew the material.

How could she not?

She was just made that way.

Made to just know things. Calculate things. Explain things.

It was in her nature.

_**-BP-AP-EB-EA-**_

"We'll see you tomorrow, Bella." Angela said as she pulled Paul away from her best friend; he looked down at her, curiously.

"See you tomorrow." Bella replied quietly; she waited until they had disappeared in Paul's blue truck before walking back into school; as usual, she sat in the library and read some educational books until the car arrived to pick her up at five.

It was a precaution; she didn't want to risk anyone from school seeing her in the sparkling black Mercedes, the newest model of course, with blacked out windows and an equally prestigious driver to match.

"Miss Swan." Jeffrey greeted as he held open the car door, his crisp suit creasing slightly as he bent forward in respect for her, waiting for her to get in.

Bella exhaled in both relief and irritation as she looked all around, making sure no one was watching.

They weren't.

"Thanks Jeffrey."

He nodded to her, shut her door and they began the journey.

Bella leaned against the window and watched as the reservation became nothing in the distance; she relaxed a little then.

Another day and she was free.

No one had seen her.

It was very important to Bella, keeping her private life a secret.

She didn't want the other Quileutes at school to think of her as different to the rest of them.

Humans were cruel, and _different_ is never really accepted.

_**You are now entering Forks.**_

The sign flashed before her eyes and she began to think about how she had even ended up in the tribal school.

Her mom had been totally against it, she had wanted Bella to skip high school and go straight to Yale.

She _had _been accepted there.

But Bella was stubborn that one time.

And she did something that she had never done before.

_"I wanna go to school on the reservation. I'm half Quileute… you know that."_

She had spoken for herself and it worked.

Her mother wondered why she'd want to go to that, as she so plainly put it,

"poor, dirty place."

Bella had just gritted her teeth in silence.

"Miss Swan." Jeffrey spoke a little louder this time.

She jumped as her name was called, "huh?"

"We have arrived."

"Oh… right."

Bella walked into the unnecessarily large mansion, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Her converse squeaked against the shiny marble floors.

As usual, she met her mother with her face stuck in one of the five computers in the lounge.

Well, it couldn't really be called a lounge; there were no couches, or televisions or anything 'homely' at all.

Instead, there were five computers and various machines that her mother and four other women used for their business.

When Bella's mother had finally noticed that she had arrived home, there was no kind smile or friendly greeting- only an order.

"Well, don't just stand there Bella. Come over and get to work."

Bella swallowed back tears.

"Sure mom."

_**-BP-AP-EB-EA-**_

It was eleven P.M. and Bella was finally finished working; her eyes were red as she finished off her meal. Whole-wheat pasta, flaxseeds and tuna. Blueberries for desert.

Her mom never really let her eat anything else but so called 'brain food' made by their live-in chef.

"Hey mom." Bella called as she stopped on the stairs on her way to her bedroom.

"What is it Bella?" _She_ answered without looking at her daughter; her hard green eyes focused on the screen in front of her.

"I don't want the car to take me to and from school anymore. I wanna take the bus…. Or a taxi."  
She said quietly.

And then her mother laughed at her.

"Don't be silly, Bella. What if something happened to you?"

For a second there, it seemed as if she cared… just for a second.

And then Bella realised that what she really meant was,

_"what if something happened to you? Then how would I become richer? Who would I have to show off to all my other rich friends and business partners? Where else am I gonna find a daughter with an IQ of 200?"_

"I don't want to go in the car anymore, mom." Bella answered firmly but still quietly.

"Fine! Whatever you want… now go upstairs, you're bothering me."

It was a bitter victory but a victory nonetheless._  
_

**Holy ****Money bags ****Batman!  
Ok guys, that was the first chapter.  
Sorry if it was a little confusing or boring, just wanted to introduce the four main characters.  
Character pics on my page **


	2. First Kiss

**A.N Thanks to everyone who added this story to their alerts ****  
I didn't think it would interest this many readers **

Bella shivered as she got out of the taxi in front on the movie theatre; it was cold tonight in Forks.

She was actually a little excited; she hadn't expected Angela to ask her out to the movies this afternoon in school.

It had been a long time since the girls had done something together. Alone.

So you could imagine the slight shock she felt when she arrived in the theatre lobby and saw, not only Angela _and _Paul but Embry Call as well.

She looked to Angela accusingly but of course, she was looking everywhere_ else_.

Paul ignored her, as usual.

Embry stared at her until she was forced to acknowledge him.

And when she finally did, he gave her a warm smile.

"Paul, Embry and I already bought the tickets so all we need are snacks and we can go in." Angela said as she handed the tickets out.

Bella smiled, knowing that this was her way of apologising for putting her friend in such an awkward situation.

The experience wasn't so bad; the movie was a little cheesy but hey.

Well, it might have seemed better if Bella had been able to hear it properly.

The sound of Paul, Angela and just about every other couple in the theatre making out kind of distracted her.

Kind of.

Embry was a complete gentleman, keeping his hands to himself the whole time.

He even offered to drive Bella home when the movie was over.

"No!" She said a little too loud; attracting unwanted attention from those around them.

Embry recoiled a little and she immediately felt bad.

She hadn't meant it like _that_; it was just that she didn't want him to see where she lived.

"I have a ride. It should be here in about fifteen minutes." She amended.

"At least let me stay with you until your ride gets here." Bella agreed to that one.

"Sure, I'd like that." She replied sincerely.

They left the lobby together and walked a couple of blocks to where the taxi was going to pick her up.

She had arranged it that way just in case there were a lot of cars parked outside the theatre by the time they were done.

But there weren't.

She shivered; Embry took off his jacket and hung it over her shoulders in silence.

He never did talk much.

"Are you sure? Aren't you gonna get cold?" She asked him, a little worried for his health since all he had on now was a wife beater…which by the way looked great on him.

Embry shook his head in reassurance.

"Nah, I'm fine Bella."

"Thank-you." She stepped towards him as she spoke; her heart beating a little faster than usual.

She wondered why that was, and why Embry seemed really appealing to her all of a sudden.

And then he stepped towards her, giving her his panty-dropping smile.

She shivered.

Embry lowered his face to hers, his eyes darting from her plump lips to her eyes for permission.

Bella found herself tiptoeing to reach him; though it didn't help much due to the colossal difference in height.

She was only four feet eleven inches.

She felt herself heat up from the inside as his hands rested on her small child-like hips, pulling her closer.

He was only two centimetres away now.

So close.

This would be her first kiss.

Her small hand knitted itself into the hair on the back of his head.

And then, just when she thought it was about to happen… his lips made a detour to her cheek.

Her eyes popped open in slight shock; his lips lingered on the side of her face, leaving her with a tingling sensation.

Bella found herself both disappointed and relieved.

He set her down on her feet gently but kept her close.

Embry's hands were so warm.

"I really like you Bella." He told her seriously; Embry felt that she really needed to know this.

He was pretty sure that she knew that he'd been around, maybe even more than Paul.

_No, no one had had more women than Paul. _

And he wanted her to know that he wasn't just into her for sex.

He had always liked her, always wanted to know more about her even though she was reluctant to let him in.

_So why didn't you kiss me?_ Part of Bella wondered.

She knew he'd been around with lots of girls, the fact unnerved her a little, so she knew that something as small as a kiss wouldn't mean much to him. So why didn't he?

_Because he knows that it's a big deal to you_. Another part of her mused.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she realised that he had just told her he liked her… and she was just staring at him like a dummy.

"I-I don't know what to say." She admitted; she couldn't say the same. Not yet anyway.

"Say you'll give me a chance."

Bella nodded without a second thought, "o-okay."

He smiled brightly and pulled her into a bear hug; she clutched onto his lean chest and sighed.

They were both interrupted by a loud car horn coming from behind Bella.

It was her taxi.

Fifteen minutes had passed too quickly for her liking.

**Monday morning**

"Come on Bella, spill. What happened with you and Embry?" Angela asked excitedly.

Paul wasn't around today for some reason so she was totally absorbed in Bella.

Bella pushed another french fry into her mouth in silence.

"Fine. If you're not gonna tell me…" Angela's eyes focused on something behind Bella.

"…Then I'll just ask him myself. HeyEmbrycomesitoverhere!" She said it so fast.

Bella choked on a french fry.

A lunch tray was placed down beside her and she felt her heartbeat speed up so much that she could almost hear it.

It got even worse when he took a seat.

Embry nodded to Angela politely before turning to Bella; she had her eyes focused on her French fries.

He smiled.

She was so shy.

He had never met anyone quieter than he was but Bella definitely took the cake.

"Hey." He offered.

"H-hey." She replied quietly.

Angela smiled and bit into her apple.

Things seemed to be going pretty well so…

"How about we go ice-skating in Port A? Not this weekend because I can't but next?" She directed her question at Bella.

Her best friend looked up in surprise and then nodded in agreement.

"You'll come too, right Embry?"

"Sure."

**Later that evening**

Bella was unusually tired when she arrived home this evening.

She trudged into the house, leaving her converse at the door and walked through to the living room, hoping that her mom wouldn't make her work tonight.

Lucky for her,_ she_ was in a business meeting.

Bella took one look at the men in the room and she could easily tell that they were bad news.

So she doubled back on her steps, hopefully unnoticed and tiptoed to her room.

Sadly, she hadn't noticed that one of them is staring at her like a shiny object. _One that belonged exclusively to him. _

Bella changed into her pyjamas in silence and stared outside of the wall-sized window at the forest for a while before climbing into her king sized bed and calling it a night.

**Holy First Kiss Batman!  
Thoughts?**


	3. Frustration

The next few weeks were normal.

Maybe a bit better than normal.

Paul was back in school, so naturally Angela was joined to him at the hip.

That meant that she had stopped grilling Bella about what happened anytime her and Embry were alone.

Speaking of Embry, him and Bella seemed to be getting closer every day.

Sometimes his friends, Jacob and Quil, came to sit with them too.

And he was always looking at her.

Always finding an excuse to start up a conversation.

Bella blushed as Embry stared of her from another part of the English classroom.

She blushed and looked away, wondering if there was something on her face.

That would be embarrassing.

"Would you like to repeat the last sentence I said Mr. Call? Or is Miss Swan's face more interesting?"

Bella's eyes snapped to the front of the class; everyone's eyes were either on hers or Embry's.

He wasn't sure exactly how to answer that question.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hyatt." Embry apologised; staring out of the window at the dirt road instead.

The apology wasn't sincere at all.

As soon as the bell rang, Bella rushed out of the room in embarrassment and ran straight for the bathroom.

There, she calmed herself in front of the mirror; just as she was about to leave, two girls walked in with scowls on their faces.

They stood in front of the door so she couldn't pass.

Bella knew them, Lauren and Jessica; infamous in La Push for their somewhat promiscuous behaviour.

"So… We heard you're fucking Embry Call." Lauren accused; Bella's eyes widened, her cheeks darkened and she began to shake her head frantically.

"No! No, we're not…" She tried to find a better word than the one Lauren had used. "…Sexually active."

The two girls looked to each other before emitting a brief burst of laughter.

"Did you just say 'sexually active'? Oh my god, how fucking lame can you get? What the hell does he see in you, anyway? You must be a fucking miracle in the sack… but then again, I can't imagine that." Bella stepped backwards as they took a step towards her, backing her into the corner of the bathroom.

They easily towered over her tiny frame.

"We don't do anything 'in the sack'." Bella tried again.

"Then what _do_ you do?" Jessica asked in her nasally voice with an accusing tone, speaking for the first time.

Bella fiddled with her shirt with both hands before answering.

"I g-guess we're sort of d-dating?" She said more like a question than a statement.

Both of the girls recoiled with a sour look on their faces.

"Dating?!" Lauren spat. "Embry Call doesn't date, he fucks."

Bella flinched a little.

"And even if he was dating someone, why the hell would it be _you_?" Jessica's eyes traced from Bella's head to toe in disgust.

"Just look at you. Short. Ugly. No curves. No style. Unattractive. A book worm… It's not even like he can use you for your money. You're dirt poor just like the rest of us."

It was almost ironic, 'It's not even like he can use you for your money. You're dirt poor just like the rest of us', she wondered what they'd say if they knew the truth.

Bella wasn't upset, or angry.

She knew that Jessica's evaluation of her was complete false.

She wasn't ugly, not at all.

In fact, she happened to think of herself as very pretty.

And she dressed just like everyone else at school. Okay, maybe she didn't put in as much effort as the girls standing in front of her obvious did but she didn't look bad. Just casual.

But she _was _short.

And she _was_ kind of lacking in the womanly curves department.

But that was okay too.

Bella decided to put it all down to the fact that these two girls were just angry and probably a little insecure, therefore they had chosen to take their frustrations out on her.

"Are you even listening, bitch?" Lauren asked as she shoved her into the wall harshly.

Bella's hand flew to the shoulder that was now in pain.

"Ow, that hurt." She mumbled.

Lauren's hand pulled up in a fist but Jessica shook her head as a warning. It wouldn't be a smart thing to do.

Lauren lowered her hand slowly as if she was using all of her willpower to do so.

"You are so annoying." She bit out before composing herself. "Half-breed bitch. I'm not even gonna tell you to stay away from Embry because I know that sooner or later he'll get tired of your boring ass. Virgins are so overrated… and when he's done, he'll be crawling on back into my bed… Or Jessica's….Or any other girl's..." Her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Don't think you're special just because he's paying you a little attention."

She backed away with a satisfied smirk on her face.

Bella just stared at the flickering light on the ceiling just behind them; that way, if they happened to say something that would actually hurt her feelings, she wouldn't have heard it.

It was a technique that she had accidently come by on the internet.

"Bella?" She and the other two girl's eyes snapped to the door.

They all knew that voice, the door opened slightly.

Jessica and Lauren scrambled away from Bella as if she stunk.

"You okay in there?" Embry asked as he stuck his head in.

His eyes scanned the bathroom before landing on Bella; a smile appeared on his handsome face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I took so long." Bella answered, passing Jessica and Lauren as if they were not even there.

Embry had asked her repeatedly, whether or not those girls had hurt her, that day.

She told him, not really.

_**-BP-AP-EB-EA-**_

Bella stared at Paul and Angela from across the lunch table; they had been attached at the mouth for the last one hundred and six seconds.

One hundred and seven.

One hundred and eight.

She wondered when they were going to come up for air, and whether or not doing this kind of thing regularly would damage their lungs at all.

Bella turned to Embry, he was sitting next to her but was turning slightly away as he listened to the stupid story that Quil was telling.

She watched as he laughed, his eyes squinted slightly and his dimples appeared.

She loved his dimples.

And then, as if he could sense her looking, he turned to her….

And she turned to the table in embarrassment.

"You don't have to hide from me, Bella."

He squeezed her hand under the table; she turned to him and smiled, a subtle blush appearing on her pale skin.

Embry tucked a stray lock of jet black hair behind her ear; her blush grew darker.

**Holy Bullies Batman!  
Thoughts?**


	4. MIA

"Bella. You're early." Embry told her as he moved out of the way to let her in; she walked in tentatively.

"Sorry." She murmured.

"No, it's fine."

He took her on a quick tour of the house before he led her over to the coach into the living room.

She went to sit and then froze, looking up at him.

"What?"

"You… you seem… bigger. Like taller and more muscular." Embry looked down at himself, assessing his own body.

He had bulked up a little and it did seem like he was inching closer to six feet.

"Huh… you're right. I guess it's a growth spurt…Do you want something to drink?"

"W-water. Please." He disappeared into the kitchen and she relaxed a little.

Why was she so worked up?

Maybe because this was the first time she had ever been in a boy's house.

She took her English books from her bag and placed them on the small coffee table in front of her.

She was kinda excited when he had asked her to tutor him.

Bella tried to calm herself down by breathing deeply as she looked around the place.

It was decent, clean which was surprising; there wasn't much in it though, it was minimalist, only containing the basics.

"You live here alone?" She asked him as he appeared in the doorway with her water, noticing that she'd only seen one bedroom; he smiled sadly and handed her the water she'd asked for.

"Uh yeah for now, my mom's visiting some relatives on the Makah rez for a few weeks so…." He replied; she nodded her head slowly.

Embry set his English supplies out on the coffee table next to hers, and they got to work.

He put pen to paper and Bella's eye brows furrowed; she stared down at his hand.

"What?" He asked her curiously; she blinked and shook her head.

"Nothing." She replied.

"Seriously Bella, what is it?" He asked her, nudging her arm.

"It's just that you're left handed; why are you writing with your right?" She asked him; Embry looked amused at the random deduction.

"Why do you think I'm left handed?" He challenged; Bella shrugged.

"It's obvious; all I have to do is look around this place." She told him; he raised an eye brow.

"Yeah?" She planted her hands down on the coffee table.

"This table's on the left hand side." She pointed over at the windowsill in the kitchen.

"….That coffee mug handle is pointing to the left; you use the left power sockets the most. The pen and paper is on the left side of the phone because you pick it up with your right hand

…and take down messages with your left and there's a knife on the bread board in the kitchen with butter on the right side of the blade because you must use it with your left hand…. So why're you using your right?" She explained; Embry's mouth was ajar, he recovered quickly.

"I'm ambidextrous; it's just that I mostly use my left. What about you? How did you pick all of that up?" Bells shrugged again.

"Photographic memory… if I'm actually paying attention, I can remember so much." She replied as she removed her black biro from her pencil case.

He stared at her as she did so; she was amazing.

How had he gotten so lucky?

Embry leaned down and kissed her cheek tenderly; her cheeks flushed red, as they always did when he touched her.

He loved the way he affected her.

"Have you heard anything from Paul?" She asked suddenly; Embry shook his head.

Nobody had seen him in the past two weeks; he just stopped coming to school.

"Angela said that he's not answering her calls. She's really upset." Bella finished, nibbling on her bottom lip.

"I'm sure he's fine. You know Paul. He's…" Embry struggled to find the words. "Unpredictable."

_**-BP-AP-EB-EA-**_

"Can we stop here for a second?" Bella asked the taxi driver as they approached the only convenience store in La Push on her way home from Embry's house.

"Don't be long."

"I won't." Bella rushed into the store and heading straight for the candy isle; she got a Hershey's chocolate bar and some wine gums.

She really needed it right now.

Bella made her way to the cashier, there was a man in front of her paying for a bottle of water and a whole bunch of other food stuffs.

This man was taller than most, he must have been at least six feet five.

_At least._

He was insanely muscular, not like body builder muscular though.

He wasn't wearing many clothes, just a pair of low cut jeans.

And no shoes.

_Strange._

When he was done paying, he turned around to leave.

Her eyes widened.

No way.

This couldn't be who she thought it was.

This was not Paul's body.

At all.

No.

He turned around, looked at her, and then he walked straight past her without saying another word.

"Hey Paul." She called.

He stopped but he didn't turn around.

"You should probably call Angela." Bella advised. "She's worried."

She didn't stop to watch him leave before walking up to the cashier to pay for her things.

The next couple of days were a little harder than usual considering the foul mood her best friend was in over the fact that Paul** still** hadn't contacted her, nor was he answering her calls.

Not to mention Embry was also MIA; Bella hadn't seen him in school either.

It was times like this when she wished that she hadn't gotten his number.

Why didn't she have his number?

Because apparently she had no common sense.

**Holy ****Imprinting**** Batman!  
Thoughts? Reviews?  
Character pics on my page**


	5. Wolves

**A.N. hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while :/**

"Bella." Angela pleaded; her beautiful brown eyes were wide and watery.

"Okay. I'll go with you." Bella had finally given in.

Angela's mouth spread into a large smile as she and Bella walked through the reservation towards Paul's house.

Instead of towards school like they should have been going.

She wanted to check if he was home.

If he was, she wanted to demand answers as to why the heck he wasn't answering her calls.

She wanted to scream in his face and maybe slap him around a little for the way he was making her feel…

That was what Angela_ wanted_ to do.

But she also knew that she couldn't do it.

She loved him too much.

"Are you sure it's okay to just turn up unannounced?" Bella asked tentatively.

Angela nodded.

"What about his parents? Will they mind?"

"It'll be fine, Bella. Paul lives alone." Angela replied surely as she gave the door three solid knocks.

They waited a while.

No answer.

**"Paul! I know you're in there!"**

_"Angela."  
_  
**"Open this door right now!" **

_"Angela."_

**"Paul!"  
**  
_"Angela."_

"What?!" She finally screamed as he turned back to Bella.

"He's not in there."

"How would you know?"

Bella thought about it.

"I don't know."

They stared at each other for a while.

"He's not in there." Bella repeated surely.

Angela's back fell heavily onto the front door.

_Deflated. _

"So where is he then?"

_Silence._

"Well, Quil and Jacob said that they saw Embry hanging out with Sam Uley…. Maybe Paul is too." Bella offered finally.

"Well, let's go then." Angela said forcefully as she began to brisk walk towards Sam and Emily's cottage.

Embry sat in Sam's living room with his hands covering his face.

This whole situation was just a cluster-fuck of epic proportions.

Paul had imprinted on his girlfriend.

His beautiful girlfriend.

_His Bella_.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

How the hell was he supposed to move on?

What would Bella think?

Was he supposed to just let her go?

Or was he supposed to fight?

Fight against their ancestors or whoever the fuck had figured that Bella would be perfect for _Paul Lahote_.

He just didn't see how they could ever be together.

They were just too different.

Embry's trail of thought was interrupted when he heard something outside; he looked around Sam and Emily's small living room.

He was alone.

When the heck did everyone go into the kitchen?

He could hear them, Jared and Paul, smacking their lips around Emily's muffins.

The noise from outside got louder; he jumped up and looked out of the window beside him.

Paul pushed another one of Emily's muffins into his mouth; his ear pricked up as the sound of two sets of footprints made their way towards the cottage.

Sam and Jared had heard it too; they were both tense.

Who the heck could it be?

Then Paul felt it; something pulled him out of his chair like a puppet on strings and hauled his ass out into the living room.

He almost pushed Call out of the way so that he could look out of the window.

He knew it!

She was here!

She was here…. With Angela?

"Fuck!"

Paul backed away from the window and turned back to Embry who was still standing there, his mouth slightly… ajar?

"You better tell me you didn't do what I just think you did, Call." Paul spat; Embry growled in response.

"It didn't have a choice!"

The two were only a few centimetres away from each other now.

A fight was about to break out…. In Emily's very neat living room.

"Paul, Embry! Outside now!" Sam didn't think about the order he had just given; he didn't think about the fact that there were two young ladies just across the yard.

He wasn't thinking about them; his head was full of ways to protect Emily and only Emily right now.

Paul and Embry tumbled into the front yard and exploded into wolves; clawing and biting at each other.

Sam couldn't order them apart.

Then, a small frightened gasp that could never have been heard by a human reached their ears.

Everything just stopped; the boys separated and phased back.

Bella stood there like a child in the candy store as the two men pulled their cut-offs on.

They were wolves!

Freakin' wolves!

How the…. When the…. What?!

"Jared… Help her inside!" Sam ordered, nodding towards Angela who was now just a quivering pile on the floor.

"Angela?" Bella's head cocked to the side as she watched the teenage boy effortlessly pick her best friend up like a sack of spuds and jog back towards the house.

Bella followed, unsure of what else to do.

Angela and Bella found themselves inside Sam Uley's home; sitting awkwardly on his couch. The small cottage seemed a lot bigger now that Sam had ordered everyone but Embry and Paul to go home.

Sam was explaining exactly what had happened to the boys in the yard earlier and how important it was to keep everything a secret. Not that the girls needed to be told that part.

Bella nodded along with excitement as she asked many questions about the process in which they morph from man to wolf and back.

_Did it hurt?_

How exactly did it feel?

Was it disorientating?

There was one thing she didn't understand; sure these men were large, huge even… but the wolves were gigantic.

How is it that they gained so much mass in the space of a few milliseconds?

It was science 101. Energy can never be created or destroyed, only converted into another form.

So why?

It intrigued her to no end.

She would have to do further research.

Perhaps there was energy stored in their bodies somehow, and that converted to the extra mass.

Or maybe it was just magic.

No.

There wasn't anything that science couldn't solve in Bella's mind.

"Can I have a pen and paper?" She asked Emily; the scarred woman smiled warmly and nodded before turning to get it.

Sam grabbed Emily's arm back and shook his head at Bella.

"You're not taking notes." She shrunk down further into the couch like a child who had been scolded.

Paul called out to Angela who had been silent the whole time, listening and playing with her hands in her lap.

She still hadn't answered him and Paul knew that she wasn't taking this well at all.

He stood and went to move towards her when he was stopped by a menacing growl.

Paul growled back in response.

"Paul." Angela's soft voice stopped them both. "What does this mean? I mean, for us."

She already knew the answer; she even suspected that she wouldn't have found out if they hadn't turned up when they did.

Paul looked at her with a longing expression, and then his eyes darted to Bella for just a second before they settled on her again.

"Just tell me." Angela hissed; she knew that they were still hiding something.

Sam looked to Paul and then back at her.

And then he told her about imprinting.

Angela listened carefully.

Again, Bella was intrigued; it seemed that the process strongly resembled that of baby geese.

"Embry imprinted on you." Angela's already racing heart began to beat impossibly fast as she tried to stay calm; she raised her head slightly to look at Embry for confirmation but he isn't looking at her.

His eyes are glued on Bella…. And so… were… Paul's?

Angela felt sick to her stomach as she realised what had happened.

"I can't breathe. Oh my God."

And then she began to hyperventilate.

Bella got up to help her.

"Get away from me!" She drew her head back in shock at this; she did as she was told anyway.

Angela's eyes fly to Paul.

"How could you?! She's my best friend!"

"I didn't have a choice!" Angela shook her head and Emily still helped her to calm down.

Bella stood up and turned towards the door.

"I'm sorry Angela." She said over her shoulder before turning to Emily and Sam.

"Thanks for the cupcakes. They were delicious." She went to leave.

"I'll take you home." The words came before he could stop them.

It was just instinct.

Angela cried harder, Paul didn't know what to do.

His wolf growled at him when he took a step towards Angela.

He pushed him back down into his conscious and continued.

"Don't cry Angela,"

"Shut-up Embry." She replied harshly.

Bella left in silence.

Nobody noticed.


	6. Notes

**A.N. Hey guys, I know it's been wayyy too long. I'm actually preparing for my final exams at A-Level so I haven't had time to write at all. But I felt really bad for this long absence so I decided to just upload this small passage for now. I hope you aren't annoyed with me. Summer is coming soon so I think I'll be able to really concentrate on what I love to do. Writing being one of those things ****  
**  
Angela woke up the next morning; her head hurt.

She wished she hadn't woken up at all.

She hated the day.

It hated her.

She felt like everybody else did too.

Her mom knocked on her door but she just laid there in silence.

Angela didn't bother to face her mother as she came in.

"Angela, are you going to school today?"

"My stomach hurts." She repeated for the fourth time this week.

"Okay, well do you want me to get you anything? Chicken soup?"

"No thanks mom, I'm not hungry."

"Well, then….Oh, Bella came around again this morning to drop off notes from all of your classes."

Her mother informed her, placing today's small pile over the ones that Bella had brought yesterday and the day before on the small work table.

"She told me to tell you she was sorry again…. I don't know what happened between you girls but she's such a nice girl and you're such good friends." Her mother tried.

Angela didn't turn around, nor did she say anything.

Her mom soon left with a heavy sigh.

They _were _such good friends.

Until Bella betrayed her.

_**-BP-AP-EB-EA-**_

Bella looked down at Angela's space next to her.

It was empty.

Paul wasn't there either.

She suspected that he was with Angela.

It was funny how just a few weeks ago, everything was okay.

Normal.

Now there were imprints.

Wolves.

There was anger.

Betrayal.

And it all seemed to revolve around Bella.

Rumours about how_ 'Quil and Jacob are hanging out with Sam's 'cult' now' _began to circulate.

Bella stayed the same, going to Angela's in the morning to drop off any notes he might need; she was missing so much information is class.

Then straight to school, then back home to help her mother.

Nothing else.

Bella exhaled tiredly as the bus pulled up to the stop, she was the only student around as she had sat, reading in the school library for about an hour.

The doors of the bus opened in front of her and she stepped on.

She jumped as a hand grabbed her arm.

She was spun into someone's chest.

Her vision was somewhat disorientated as she looked up.

"P-paul?"

She stood like a dummy as he reached into her jeans pocket, pulling her cell phone out in silence.

He programmed his number into it and stuffed it back into her jeans.

That was the last time she had seen Paul, and it had been three week since that incident.

Bella was becoming increasing lonely as the days went on.

Angela had finally come back to school, but she was always with Jessica and Lauren.

When they all saw Bella, all three of them would give her dirty looks.

It was like the 'we hate Bella' alliance.


	7. Unapproachable

**A.N. Hey guys, had this one pre-written so I thought I'd put it up. Thank to everyone who reviewed the last chapter **

Bella's brain and eyes began to ache; she had been staring at the computer screen for way too long.

Working on the stocks and shares had never been a quick task; not even for Bella.

Her eyes strayed around the room; her mother's head was also stuck in the computer, typing away as if her fortune depended on it.

Bella's gaze landed on the clock on the far side of the room.

4:58pm

"I'm gonna go for a walk. I need some air."

She said to the room.

"Marie!" Her mother called.

"No!" Bella objected. "I want to go alone... I'll be back real soon."

"Make sure you are."

Was Renee Swan's cold reply.

The cold air hit Bella's face and she smiled; it was really refreshing.

She started towards the convenient store down the road, it wasn't too far.

Eventually, her mind began to drift towards her current situation.

She missed Embry. A lot.

She missed the way he looked at her; she missed the way he used to gently coax her into conversations.

Bella didn't talk much now.

Not that there was anyone for her to talk to now anyway.

She missed the way she felt when he kissed her cheek, his soft lips lingering. His hand rested on her small hips.

But most of all, she missed the feelings she once had for him.

Everything was going fine; she was falling for him just like it was supposed to be.

Embry Call, Bella swan.

Angela Weber, Paul Meraz.

It was how it was supposed to be.

Now, things were turned upside.

It was comical really.

Perhaps one day, probably one day soon, Angela would crack and give into her imprint.

Embry would be able to forget about Bella and Angela, though still bitter, would accept him.

But Bella and Paul were different; he was still avoiding her.

Or she was avoiding him, she didn't really know which. Maybe both.

He was probably still in love with Angela.

How could he not be?

Angela was perfect. She was beautiful, moderately intelligent, witty, funny.

What did Bella have?

Well, she was pretty and she was extremely intelligent.

But most found that fact about her irritating, hard to reach, unattainable.

Someone had said that to her before,

"Bella, you're just not that approachable."

Angela was approachable.

Plus, she was the one who saved Paul.

Saved him from his stupid self-destructive path and made him into a one woman man.

How could Bella compete with that?

How was she supposed to compete with that?

Did she even want to?

Maybe not.

Maybe if sh-mmm

Bella's thoughts were interrupted as she began to hear footsteps behind her, catching up slowly.

She wasn't stupid enough to turn to see who it was; she didn't want whoever was there to be aware of the fact that she knew she was being followed.

Bella was frightened; her heart was beating much faster than usual.

What if they were here to kidnap her?

Kill her?

Maim her?

There was no one around to help her and it was getting dark, fast.

She wasn't ready to die, now.

She hadn't done half of the things that she wanted to.

She hadn't even rid herself f her mother.

She hadn't made things better with Angela…. Or Paul.

And she hadn't seen _him_ in a while.

She managed to calm down a little as the convenience store came into view.

She couldn't help but jog the last few metres to the safe zone.

Bella crouched down and peered up over candy isle tentatively.

The man couldn't see her; he searched the store, looking hopeful yet irritated.

That was when he recognised him; it was the man from the meeting that day.

**Flashback (Chapter 2)**  
_  
Bella was unusually tired when she arrived home this evening. _

_She trudged into the house, leaving her converse at the door and walked through to the living room, hoping that her mom wouldn't make her work tonight. _

_Lucky for her, she was in a business meeting. _

_Bella took one look at the men in the room and she could easily tell that they were bad news._

_So she doubled back on her steps, hopefully unnoticed and tiptoed to her room. _

_Sadly, she hadn't noticed that one of them is staring at her like a shiny object. One that belonged exclusively to him. _

_Bella changed into her pyjamas in silence and stared outside of the wall-sized window at the forest for a while before climbing into her king sized bed and calling it a night. _

**End of flashback  
**  
Bella pulled her phone out of her pocket aggressively.

**911**

Her fingers wavered over the call button.

Wait a second, if she decided to call them wouldn't they take her home… and tell her mother?

No!

That woman would never let her out by herself again!

Bella went through her contacts. There were only four.

She skimmed over Angela's name easily.

The second name, she chewed on her bottom lip; there was no way he could get here fast enough to help her. His family had long moved to Vancouver.

The third was Marie, her mother's personal assistant. Nope.

The last was her only option, her finger hovered over the call button again and she eventually pressed it.

It rang twice.

"Hello?" He sounded a little irritated.

"Paul? Help me."


	8. Stalker

**A.N. Hey guys, this time I wrote the chapter from both Paul and Bella's perspectives because I really wanted to get what both of them were feeling across. Hope you like it xoxo**

_**Previously…..**_

_It rang twice._

"Hello?" He sounded a little irritated.

"Paul? Help me."

When she saw him, her eyes lit up.

He came! He actually came to help her.

Even though she had called him, she never actually believed that he would.

He looked angry, very angry as she explained the situation. His jaw clenched tightly.

"Who is this guy? Do you know him?" Paul asked her threateningly, she shook her head.

"No, not personally but he came to my house once for a meeting with my mom. I didn't speak to him or anything." She tried to explain clearly.

"How long has he been out there, Bella?"

"I-I don't know… about half an hour or so…. I'm not sure."

He growled, "Then he's a fucking stalker Bella!"

Bella watched as his t-shirt clad muscular chest began to vibrate while he turned away from her.

'Wait!' she objected.

He couldn't go when he was like this.

She never intended for him to confront the man, she just wanted him to take her home.

He turned to her with a look of annoyance; his usual dark brown eyes were like black holes.

Bella recoiled a little, she didn't like that look.

It made her feel stupid and reminded her that he didn't want her. Nobody did.

'What are you gonna do to him?' she whispered, trying to change the subject in her head; he growled again, this time louder.

'What does it look like I'm gonna do? I'm gonna teach him what happens when you mess with what's mine.'

Bella's eyes widened and her heart aped up.

Mine?

He did say 'mine', right?

Was she his?

Well she was his imprint. But did that make her his?

His what, exactly?

'Don't hurt him' she blurted out.

What if he went overboard and killed this man?

What if he phased?

He looked a little shocked at her words, and something seemed to happen to him.

She didn't know what, but something.

A ripple shook through his body.

'Fuck' he began to shake again.

She placed a tentative hand on his arm in a desperate attempt to calm him.

It worked but he yanked his muscular arm away from her.

Bella felt ashamed, hurt.

He didn't even want her to touch him.

Paul grabbed her roughly, pulling her close; before she knew what was happening, she was tucked underneath his ginormous body.

The gesture wasn't caring or reassuring at all though. It was sort of… needy and forced.

'Come on', he said; pulling her towards the entrance.

She shivered as the man who had been following her stepped forward as they walked outside; his eyes darted from Bella's to Paul's in confusion.

'Who the hell is he?' the man asked, his eyes narrowed.

Bella wondered what was going on in his man's head.

Did he really believe that he had the right to ask that question?

She wondered if he was one of those crazy ones who fabricate a whole relationship up in their heads…

Her thoughts are interrupted as Paul hiked her up on his body and pressed his lips to hers.

Her eyes widened.

And then the feeling was gone, as if it had never been there.

She looked up at Paul, a little shaken but instead he was looking at the man.

'That's the way it is asshole.' Bella slid down his body as he lowered her onto the floor; he pushed her behind him and grabbed the weak-looking man (well weak compared to Paul) by the collar.

The man's eyes widened in fear and he began to babble apologies while scratching hopelessly at Paul's hands around his neck.

Bella's hand flew to her lips; tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Anger began to boil up through her veins.

How dare he?

How dare he?

How dare he?

'If I ever catch you around her again, I'll kill you. Got it?'

There was something about the way that he said it that made the fluid rush between her legs.

Even in the current state she was in.

Paul's eyes flickered to her body for a moment.

He lowered the stalker to his feet and he quickly scurried away like a cockroach that was about to be stepped all over.

Bella could feel the front of her shirt becoming wetter by the second, but she couldn't stop her tears; her little fists balled up.

She looked up to see Paul, staring at her with the remnants of anger still on his face.

But it was mostly sadness and curiosity that she saw.

Even so, just this once, she couldn't curve her own anger.

Her hand swung for his face, colliding with a loud 'smack'.

It hurt, more than she had expected.

It hurt so bad.

She watched without guilt as Paul stumbled backwards a little in shock.

Bella turned on her heel then and started to walk away, tears clouding her vision; she didn't want to see his face right now.

He had stolen something that she hadn't known was dear to her until he had taken it.

"You better fucking wait Bella." He yanked her back by the arm and turned her into his arms.

The tight grip he had on her forearm begun to sting, his eyes staring back into hers- confused.

"What the hell was that for?" He squeezed her arm even more and she whimpered.

He immediately let go; Bella knew that he hadn't meant to hurt her.

He seemed to calm himself a little.

She stared back at him with a face that she was sure looked damn-near hideous.

His face softened and he looked kinda sad.

Very sad. .

"Did I hurt you?" He asked softly, trying to take a look at her arm.

She pulled it back quickly, knowing that there would be a bruise.

She didn't want him to see it and feel even worse than he already did so he shook her head and sniffled.

"Why did you hit me, Bella? You're the one who called me here, and I didn't hurt 'im just like you asked."

Bella sniffled again.

"Y-you can't do th-that." She whispered.

"Do what?"

"You can't just steal somebody's first kiss. It could be special to her. She could be waiting to share it with someone she really cares about." Bella looked down as she spoke.

She was slightly embarrassed at how she was feeling but she couldn't help it.

He had taken something important.

No, maybe it wasn't the fact that he had kissed her; it was that he did it so easily.

Because it was nothing to him.

He had done so much more with many other girls…. Including Angela.

It made her feel a little bit sick.

Sick to her stomach with jealousy and annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Bella." Her eyes widened, she was a little shocked.

She watched as he turned and walked away from her.

Huh?

Didn't he want to see her get home safely?

She was so confused.

Everything he did just confused her to no end.

Paul found his imprint in the candy isle, scared and shaking.

This only fuelled his anger… yet, he didn't even know why he was angry.

His mood only worsened after she actually explained what was happening.

What the heck was this situation, anyway?

"Who is this guy? Do you know him?" He questioned her, hoping that the answer was no.

But knowing Bella, this guy definitely wasn't a past boyfriend or anything infuriating like that.

She shook her head.

He was a little relieved.

"No, not personally but he came to my house once for a meeting with my mom. I didn't speak to him or anything." She explained.

He tried to calm himself at the thought of a male stranger inside Bella's house.

It wasn't working. His wolf foamed at the mouth.

"How long has he been out there, Bella?" He asked with clenched teeth.

"I-I don't know… about half an hour or so…. I'm not sure."

He growled menacingly, "Then he's a fucking stalker Bella!"

She looked even more frightened then.

He was torn between comforting his imprint and leaving her in the store alone while he dealt with the fucker outside.

Paul couldn't control himself, his wolf was outraged; he turned towards the double doors.

Yep, he was going to kill this asshole.

'Wait!' Her voice called out to him.

He turned to her slowly.

She recoiled a little and he felt it.

It was fucking painful.

Was she afraid?

What did she need?

'What are you gonna do to him?', she whispered; he growled again, his mind jolting back to the current situation.

'What does it look like I'm gonna do? I'm gonna teach him what happens when you mess with what's mine.'

And he meant it.

'Don't hurt him' she blurted out.

And something happened to his body, her words were heavy.

Like a noose around his neck.

He felt her words wash over him like an alpha order.

'Fuck' he began to shake.

She placed a tentative hand on his arm and he liked it.

He liked it a lot.

But he didn't want to like it.

Not right now.

He didn't want to be calm.

He wanted to stay angry, to deal with the man outside so he pulled his arm from her grasp.

Then he felt it.

Shame.

Hurt.

Was this how Bella was feeling?

Why w-

'**Focus!' **

His wolf growled from within.

Right.

Paul pulled Bella close; he had to bend just to put his arm around her small shoulders.

'Come on', he said; pulling her towards the entrance.

The fucker had the audacity to look at his imprint in the eye.

Paul's own eyes narrowed.

Who the fuck was this prick anyway?

'Who the hell is he?' the man asked Bella directly.

Paul felt the jealousy built up in his heart.

He needed something.

Anything. Or he was gonna dismember this asshole.

**Mine. **

His wolf growled as he hiked her up on his body and pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss was quick but it damn near made him fall over.

So that was an imprint kiss?

If Paul had his way, he would be doing it every day… along with other things.

'That's the way it is asshole.' He dropped Bella and picked the idiot up by his collar.

It was almost funny, the way the guy was actually trying to claw at Paul's fingers.

He looked like he was about to wet his pants.

Paul doesn't even think about what this scrawny guy was planning to do to his Bella.

'If I ever catch you around her again, I'll kill you.'

He dropped the man to his feet and he scrambled away.

Paul tried to calm himself before looking back to his imprint, his eyes scanning her small body; making sure that she wasn't hurt.

It was then that he smelt them, salt-water tears.

She was crying.

A million questions ran through his head at once.

Why was she crying?

Was something wrong?

Had he hurt her?

Did that asshole hurt her?

What-?

Suddenly, her little hand flew up and hit his face.

He stumbled back a little in shock.

He had barely felt it.

But it_ hurt_.

By the time Paul came to his senses, she was trying to get away from him.

She would **never** be able to get away from him.

"You better fucking wait Bella." He yanked her back to him and turned her into his arms.

"What the hell was that for?" Why the hell would she just slap him like that?

How dare she!

A whimper broke his cloudy rage. His eyes snapped to her arm.

He dropped it almost immediately.

Her eyes were large and watery, her plump lip quivering.

The sight of her damn-near broke his heart.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked softly, she shook her head and sniffled.

He knew she was lying.

So he tried to get a good look at her arm but she struggled with him and backed away.

She didn't want him to touch her, did she?

His body pulsed with rejection.

"Why did you hit me, Bella? You're the one who called me here, and I didn't hurt 'im just like you asked."

She sniffled again.

"Y-you can't do th-that." She whispered.

Okay, he was well and truly confused now.

"Do what?"

"You can't just steal somebody's first kiss. It could be special to her. She could be waiting to share it with someone she really cares about." Bella looked down as she spoke.

First kiss?

What the hell?

She and Embry dated, didn't they?

They didn't even get as far as a kiss on the damn lips?

The thought made Paul want to giggle like a school girl.

Both the man and the wolf liked the idea that their imprint was untouched.

But then she sniffled again and he felt bad for stealing it.

She was right; he hadn't yet earned the right to kiss her.

"I'm sorry, Bella."

He stepped a little closer, he wanted to embrace her.

Tell her everything was going to be okay.

But he couldn't.

He had no idea as to how she would react.

So he picked the safe option and walked away.

Every step was difficult, impossible even but he made it.

He wanted to take her home, but he knew she wouldn't have it.

He had followed her home on the day that he had imprinted and found what he least expected; a mansion.

A fucking mansion.

**Flashback**

_Paul kept up with the bus easily as it chugged down the roads of La Push. _

_He watched her as he ran; her chin leaned on her hand as she peered out of the open window. _

_She was just so beautiful. _

_Was Bella always this beautiful?_

Probably, he had just never noticed. 

_How the hell had he not noticed? _

_Paul became confused as the bus left La Push and Bella was still on it. _

_What the heck?_

_Where the hell was she going?_

_With a million questions in his head, he continued to run alongside the bus; his enormous paw slapping heavily against the forest floor. _

_Eventually, Bella got off. _

_It was the end of the bus route and Paul felt like he was in the middle of nowhere. _

_There was nothing. _

_Except the woods where he was. _

_Then she turned towards him and began to walk. _

_He panicked. _

_Could she see him?_

_No. he didn't think that she could. _

_He backed away and moved a little more into the trees._

_Bella continued to walk forward onto the pebbled road within the forest. _

_Paul continued to back away. _

_Did she live here?_

Nobody lived here; it was just woods, right?

Then again, he had never patrolled this far away from La Push before. 

_Sam said it was their territory. _

_The leeches. _

_And then he began to smell it. _

_The sickly sweet remnants of them. _

_It burnt his nose. _

_He tried to shake it off, he had to follow Bella. _

_But as she continued on the road, the smell became more prominent. _

_Then she reached an enormous house and he finally got it. _

_Damn. _

_Bella was living in the Cullen's mansion._

**End of flashback**

She sure hid that one well.

Correction, she was sure **hiding** that one well.

He didn't want her to know that he knew.

So for tonight, he would make sure she got home safely from the shadows.

_**-BP-AP-EB-EA-**_

__It was the next day and Bella was in pain.

Where he had gripped her arm were dark bruises and her hand was still throbbing.

She was starting to think that slapping him had been a bad idea.

It was like slapping rock.

Bella pulled her sleeve over her hand as if what she had done had somehow left a mark on her skin.

Showing the world just how much of a violent person she was.

She nibbled on her bottom lip for comfort, knowing that she was being silly.

He had stolen something important to her.

And she had reacted.

That was all.

Bella braced herself before walking into the school building; she was running about fifteen minutes late so she expected the hallways to be cleared as lessons had started long ago.

But when she walked through the main doors, she saw something that terrified her.

Almost enough to stop her heart.

**Dun dun duuuunn!  
Any guesses as to what Bella saw?  
No? Yes?  
Review please! (If you do I'll give you a sneak peek into the next chapter) **


	9. Exposed

_**Previously…..**_

_It was the next day and Bella still hadn't apologised to Paul for slapping him._

She pulled her sleeve over her hand as if what she had done had somehow left a mark on her skin. 

_Showing the world just how much of a violent person she was._

She nibbled on her bottom lip for comfort, knowing that she was being silly.

_He had stolen something important to her._

And she had reacted. 

_That was all. _

_Bella braced herself before walking into the school building; she was running about fifteen minutes late so she expected the hallways to be cleared as lessons had started long ago. _

_But when she walked through the main doors, she saw something that terrified her. _

_Almost enough to stop her heart. _

There were people crowding the hallways.

Students and teachers.

And they were all staring up at the papers that somehow covered the walls and floors of the whole corridor.

Then they all turned to her.

Some laughed.

Some stared.

Some whispered.

Some did all of the above.

Bella swallowed thickly before looking down at her feet at the papers and picking one up.

And then she read it:

_**Isabella Swan was bought  
at a high price from an elite private hospital.  
She is a genius baby designed  
in vitro with high grade sperm.**_

Bella dropped the paper in her hands like it had singed her fingers.

She looked up at the students and teachers again.

She can hear them. Laughing. Whispering. Judging.

'_No wonder she's so smart.'_

'_I guess these people really do exist. Wealthy people buying excellent genes.'_

_What the hell? Her family must be millionaires._

_What the hell is she doing here?_

She couldn't move.

It felt like all the energy she had had been drained from her body.

They all knew.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

Nothing.

Why?

Why?

Why would she do this?

Was Angela this angry?

It could only have been _her._

She was the only one who knew about this.

She was the only one in La Push that she had told.

In confidence.

And yet here it was; out in the open.

Common knowledge.

Everyone knew.

Then it began to rain, the sprinklers were on.

Bella stood with her head down as the students who were once mocking her scurried away into the dry classrooms.

She couldn't move.

Instead she allowed herself to become drenched.

Cold.

At least the artificial rain disguised her tears.

Angela watched her from behind, her eyes hard and angry as she moved her hand away from the fire alarm.

There was nothing but hate in her heart at this moment for the small girl in front of her.

**Flashback **

Angela was lying on her bed, her back against the wall and her face trained on the television.

_Watson: You don't have a girlfriend, then?  
Sherlock: Girlfriend? No, not really my area  
Watson: Oh right then… do you have a boyfriend? Which is fine, by the way-  
Sherlock: I know its fine._

She laughed light-heartedly at the exchange.

Angela loved Sherlock; the British TV series was way better than the American films.

She jumped as a rock bounced off of her window.

Angela stood, her eyes still on the television and walked backwards towards the window.

She opened it automatically, knowing exactly who it was.

"Sherlock?" He asked as he climbed in, kissed her on her forehead and settled on her bed.

"Yeah." She replied, sitting on the other side of the bed.

Embry exhaled tiredly.

She was always doing this.

She wouldn't even let him touch her most of the time.

It wasn't her fault; she just didn't get it.

She just didn't understand how much he needed her.

All of her.

"A study in pink?" He asked her; she nodded.

He laughed and shook his head.

Just how many times was she going to watch the series?

Embry scooted closer to her.

He saw her eyes flicker to him for just a second.

There was no reaction so he scooted even closer.

No reaction.

A little more.

Just a little closer.

"Will you stop?" She snapped; her eyes narrow.

"Sorry." He mumbled, feeling hurt and wounded.

He just wanted to be close to her.

Embry panicked as she paused the DVD and began to put on one of her jackets.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going for a drive."

"Now? At least let me go with you."

She swallowed down her anger and turned to him.

"I don't want you to go with me. I want to be alone, don't you get it? I let you sit near me, I let you come to my house but that's it. That's as far as we're ever going to go because I'm in love with Paul. Not you." She was crying now, her face drenched.

Embry stumbled back at her words.

He had already known how she felt but hearing it was just too much.

"Angela."

She left him in her room and stumbled downstairs and out of the front door.

Angela struggled to put her seatbelt on; her tears were clouding her vision.

She stopped to wipe at her eyes roughly; she could feel him.

He was right next to her, lurking in the woods.

Already prepared to follow her to wherever it was she was going.

Angela pulled out of her drive-way and headed in the direction of Forks.

Her mind drifted back to her conversation with Embry.

_"I'm in love with Paul. Not you."_

Gah! Did she really have to say that?

Why did she say that?

She could have said it in a nicer way at least.

She had hurt Embry, she knew this.

Angela felt it at the second she had said it.

She hit her fist against the steering wheel in anger.

Why was everything she did so wrong?

She wanted jump on him, kiss him all over his gorgeous face and say that she did feel something for him, and even if her love for Paul was winning at this moment, things would change.

Things _were_ changing.

They could have a future.

But you see, Angela was sort of like a dog.

Loyal.

And no matter how much she disliked Bella and Paul right now, or how much she would glare at them when she saw them…

She never did see them together.

Bella wasn't the type of girl to be sneaking around with a guy which told her that those two weren't even together.

From what she could see, Bella was also still loyal.

And hopefully things could stay this way, and eventually things would get back to the way they were supposed to be.

Paul and Angela.

Embry and Bella.

Angela smiled to herself.

That would be great.

She didn't like this set-up.

She didn't like feeling like she needed somebody.

Especially not _Embry Call. _

Angela stopped at the traffic light and waited.

She looked to her right at the forest.

She suspected that he was there, watching.

Then turned away in a huff and looked out of her own window; what she saw there caused her body to go limp.

It was Paul and Bella. Together.

Why were they here?

And why the hell was Paul holding Bella so close?

Angela's hand clenched onto the door handle, ready to open it until she remembered that she and Paul were no longer dating.

Her hand fell to her side limply.

Then she watched, in what felt like slow-motion as Paul hiked Bella up on his body and pressed his lips to hers.

**End of flashback**

Angela watched her from behind, her eyes hard and angry as she moved her hand away from the fire alarm.

There was nothing but hate in her heart at this moment for the small girl in front of her.

She walked up behind Bella and held her umbrella over both of their heads.

"The hallway's all soaked." She said as she pouted; Bella turned to the girl who she once called her best friend slowly.

There was fire in her eyes.

"Aww Bella, what's with the scary face?" Angela asked her.

More tears poured down Bella's face as she wondered what she had done to deserve this.

"What's wrong? Has something happened? Huh?" Angela continued. "If there's anything wrong, you know you can tell me. After all, I am your best friend… Oh wait, no I'm not. Paul's your best friend now, right? I bet you can tell him everything. I mean, he_ is_ your imprint…"

"But then again, don't you think you may be moving a little bit too fast considering he was your ex-best friend's boyfriend. I mean it's not like you've never seen love before…" She paused.

"Oh wait… you haven't, have you? Your mom doesn't love you. You don't even know who your real parents are. Poor thing. The only thing we know is that one of them is Quileute; you're lucky blood tests can prove that sort of thing or you wouldn't even be here...Ruining my life."

Bella's eyes rose until she met Angela's.

"Huh? Got something to say?"

Bella said nothing.

"Come on Bella. Speak up." Angela nudged at her arm.

Bella turned to her fully; her eyes wild with anger. And then she spoke,

"I will see to it, that you have no place in this entire country."

Angela laughed at her, "You can't do that."

Bella's head cocked to the side a little; Angela's smile faded immediately.

"Is there anything that I can't do, Angela? Really?"

Bella walked away.

Then for the first time in her life, Angela Weber wished that she had tasted her words before she spat them out.

**Thoughts?  
Oooh Angela is cruel! Damn.  
What did you think of it guys?  
And any guesses on what Bella's revenge will be?  
review for more sneak peaks!  
**


	10. Scars

**A.N. hey guys, sorry I too so long to upload this one. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter **

The wolf's eyes snapped open, it was disorientated for a second; he wondered where he was.

Oh right, he was outside his mate's house.

The absence of the usual fluttering in his chest told him that she had already left for school this morning.

The wolf gazed up into the sky.

Judging by where the sun was, it was only past eight; she probably hadn't left long ago.

_You okay, man?-_ Embry

Paul growled in response, he couldn't help it; Embry was still the _other male_.

The one that his Bella was with before; just the thought of their relationship disgusted him.

_Yeah, I'm not too fond of you either_- Embry replied; reminding him of the fact that they were in the exact same position… except Paul had gone _so_ much further with Angela than Embry and Bella had ever gone.

_Don't fucking remind us_-Embry and his wolf growled in response

Paul stood and stretched out his tired back before phasing back to human.

He didn't want to risk showing Embry where Bella lived; that was her secret so it would be her choice as to whether or not anyone found out.

He ran back through the forest towards La Push, it would take him awhile on two legs but it was still better than hearing Embry's thoughts.

Paul planned to get home, take a shower, eat everything he could find and hightail it to school to see Bella.

Just like that, his mind was cast back to the night before and a small frown formed on his face.

He had kissed her, and she slapped him.

Then he had hurt her, bruised up her arms like an animal.

Paul would have given anything to bounce back in time to stop himself from doing both of those things; he just never got it right with Bella.

He didn't _know_ Bella.

He needed the time to get to know her, but it was difficult.

Sam hadn't allowed him to attend school over the past few weeks in fear that he might fursplode in front of the entire student body.

But from today, he could go back; he could be with her.

He could talk to her, get to know her, let her get to know him. All of the good stuff.

Although he had never handled a girl like Bella, he was sure that he could learn.

He _had_ to.

Then suddenly, pain rose in his chest; it consumed his very being.

So much so that all of his movement stopped and he came crashing down to the forest floor, clutching to the source of his pain.

The feeling was gone as soon as it came yet he somehow knew exactly what it was.

Something was wrong with **her**.

Something was wrong with **Bella.**

_-BP-AP-EB-EA-_

The news had fully circulated now.  
_  
_Yet it had only been an hour.

Everyone stared at her, even the teachers as if they couldn't help themselves.

She saw pity and even fear in their eyes.

Mike, who usually flirted with her during English, ignored her, like she wasn't even there.

He was almost falling out of the window in his quest to be as far away from her as possible.

Everyone else in the classroom kept throwing dirty looks her way.

It wasn't long before she couldn't take it anymore.

Bella excused herself and went to the bathroom.

She almost ended up knocking over a bucket of dirty mop water as she entered.

She couldn't concentrate on anything.

She was numb, empty.

Bella did her business and left her stall, only to see two people blocking the way.

The looks from these two girls, Jessica and Lauren, were different to everyone else's.

They held no pity in their eyes, just anger and disgust.

Bella dashed back into the stall as fast as she could.

Then she heard whispering.

She waited, knowing that they were plotting something.

Bella was right.

The bucket of dirty mop water was dumped over her head from above.

She screamed and shivered underneath it.

She looked up and saw the two girls' faces smiling down at her.

"That's what dirty bitches like you deserve!"

"And I even heard she was kissing her best friend's boyfriend in Forks yesterday."

Ah, so that was why Angela was doing this.

"I know, I heard that too. What a slut." They spoke about her like she wasn't even there.

Bell flopped down on the toilet seat in silence, staring at the graffiti ridden bathroom stall door in front of her and allowed them to continue to insult her until they were done.

"We're talking to you, bitch!" Lauren screeched; that got Bella's attention.

Lauren stared back at her blank expression with complete and utter loathing.

Why was she so calm?

Couldn't she hear what they were saying about her?

It was like she wasn't affected by them at all and that, to Lauren, was unacceptable.

"We did it, you know. We're the ones who printed the posters and stuck them all over the walls."  
She said it nice and slowly so that Bella could hear every word.

"Yeah, that's right." Jessica's nasally voice rang. "We exposed you for the fake that you are."

Bella's body made a small squelching sound as she slumped back against the toilet.

So Angela had roped these two into her plans, huh?

Somehow, this made the betrayal much worse.

_-BP-AP-EB-EA-_

Paul arrived at La Push high in a rush; she wasn't here. He knew it.

But something told him that if he entered, he would find out what the hell was making her so miserable right now.

He jogged through the double-door entrance and paused abruptly; he saw a couple of teachers along with a few students in the drenched hallway cleaning up pieces of soggy paper from the floors and lockers.

"Paul!" A voice that he definitely recognised called out.

It was Kim, Jared's imprint.

He moved to her swiftly, snatching one of the wet papers from her hand and reading it.

"What the fuck is this?!" He boomed, the students in the hallway ducked a little in both shock and fear.

Paul looked Kim in the eye and tried to control his ever-growing anger as he spoke,

"Who did this?" she shook her head in response.

"Paul, you need to forget about who did it and you need to find Bella. She needs you right now."

"It was Angela." He concluded. He knew his ex-girlfriend.

This was definitely something that she could pull.

"Paul, listen to what I'm saying. Don't go after Angela, go after Bella. She needs you." Kim tried again.

Fuck, she was right.

"She couldn't have left long ago, go get your car and pick her up before she gets too far. I heard some people say that she was standing under the sprinklers when they came…" He was gone before she could properly finish her sentence.

_-BP-AP-EB-EA_

Bella didn't bother to return to her class.

Instead she trudged home dirty and wet, her clothes leaving a trail of dirty water on the dirt roads. She didn't bother to wait for the taxi this time; it would be faster to walk…

No, it wouldn't.

How could it?

She lived in Forks.

Her school was in La Push.

But at this moment she wasn't thinking about that.

Instead she was busy plotting the revenge that she would surely take.

There wasn't a doubt in hell that Angela was going to pay, one way or another.

A car pulled up alongside her as she continued to walk, she didn't bother looking at the driver.

She already knew who it was, she could already feel him.

"Bella." He called out to her; she ignored him and kept walking.

"Bella, get in the car."

She shook her head.

He exhaled tiredly.

"Bella, please."

She said nothing and continued to walk.

"Come on Bella._ Please_."

"I don't want you to drive me." She said finally, looking him in his gorgeous face.

His eyes narrowed at her.

"So what? You plan on walking all the way to Forks? That's ten miles away Bella. A ten mile long walk in wet clothes. You're gonna catch a cold.. or worse. Just get in the car." He reasoned with her.

She sighed tiredly and stopped, the car stopped alongside her.

"You're not gonna let me have this one thing, are you?"

"Nope. It's either you get into the car or I put you in the car. Which one's it gonna be?"

And that was how she found herself in the passenger's seat of Paul's car.

He wondered why the hell she was stinking like dirt and grime.

But he didn't say anything.

He just knew that she didn't want to talk about it.

Would he find out? Yes.

But not right now.

He reached into the back seat and pulled out something large before placing it in her lap.

She jumped a little as their skin touched.

"You can wear that. Get those wet clothes off of you." He said evenly.

Bella did as she was told; she made sure he wasn't looking before she began to pull her jumper over her head.

She was grateful that he hadn't asked about what had happened to her.

She really didn't want to talk about it.

Not now anyway.

But then again, he was sure to find out soon enough.

And then how would he look at her then?

What would he think of her?

Paul leaned forward and turned on the heating, his eyes still on the road as he drove at a reasonable speed, he was already boiling but he knew that she would be cold with just his t-shirt on.

As Bella pulled his shirt over her head, he snuck a peak, his wolf purring with pride.

She was wearing his clothes.

He leaned into her and she froze.

His nose trailing from her arm to her neck, he breathed her scent in and growled possessively.

**Mine. **

But then he caught another scent, one that he didn't like at all….and it was coming from her.

Paul's foot slammed down on the brake; Bella gasped and held her hands up to the dashboard to stop herself from head-butting it.

"Paul, why did y…." She trailed off as she realised that he wasn't listening, instead he was staring at the arm that was furthest away from him.

Bella's eyes widened when she realised what he had seen and tried to move her hand away from his sight.

He growled at her and grabbed her arm tightly.

His eyes were livid.

"What the fuck is this?!" He asked her, staring at the silver moon shaped bite marks.

She looked away from him and tried to think of something suitable to say.

"Don't even think of lying Bella or I swear to God I'll do something we'll both regret." Bella swallowed thickly.

"Paul, you're shaking, you need to get out of the…." The next thing she knew, she was being hauled out of the truck and into the woods.

He had only meant to let go of her but instead he ended up dumping her onto the dirty, damp forest floor with the force he had used.

He really needed to control his strength.

"Now, tell me what that_ thing_ on your arm is!" he ordered, still shaking.

"Paul, calm do…" She was cut off as his fist flew into a tree; he needed to expel his anger in some way otherwise he would phase.

He wouldn't be able to stop it.

The sound of the wood cracking startled Bella, making her shake with fear.

She covered her head and shivered on the forest floor.

He turned to her, unsure of what was happening.

And then it came, like a blow to the chest….

"Please don't hurt me again." She pleaded quietly; even _he_ almost hadn't heard it.

She was afraid of him.

His body stilled as he looked down at the quivering slip of a girl in front of him.

He noticed the bruising on her arms where he had gripped her as he dragged her into the woods as well as the ones that he had given her last night at the convenience store.

"Fuck." He said to mostly himself before he turned and left her there on the cold forest floor.

Paul was conflicted, he wanted to be with her but he was just so unstable at the moment.

It was better to give her some space. She needed space.

Bella, oblivious to his intentions, cried into the forest floor with feelings of rejection and confusion.

**Poor Bella, she just can't catch a break can she?  
Am I the only one who thinks that these two need to be locked up in a room somewhere so they can just communicate for once?  
Character pics on my page as usual.**  
**REVIEW FOR MORE SNEAK PEEKS!**


	11. Hate

**A/N I'm actually don't like this chapter at all. I find it kind of bland and poorly written but no matter how much I look at it, I can't seem to make it any better… so I decided to just upload it. The next one should be up within the next few days **

Embry wished that he could change a lot of things.

He wished that Angela would stop shutting him out.

He wished that Angela would be honest with both him and herself.

He wished that Angela would stop pretending that she felt nothing for him.

But most of all, he wished that he hadn't listened to her when she said that she was okay last night.

He wished that he had been there with her, the whole night long.

If he had, then maybe, just maybe he wouldn't be staring at this mess in the corridors right now.

His heart went out to Bella, wherever she had gone to hide.

Because no one deserved this, least of all her.

She was honest.

Kind.

She was fucking _fragile_.

Embry feared that she would never recover from this.

Ever.

He strode through the soaked hallways with long strides, straight to the physics corridor, room 205.

Embry opened the door fluidly, and his eyes homed right in on_ her. _

"Excuse me, Embry Call! What do…" The teacher, Ms Brook started,

He took no notice of her.

"Pack up your stuff." He ordered calmly, trying his best to keep calm.

She looked around the class with irritation and embarrassment before answering,

"Can't it wait? I'm in the middle of class."

Embry closed his eyes for a second to allow the anger to subside,

"No, it can't. Get up…** now**." He ordered, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

He didn't even feel like sugar coating it, nor did he care about the whispers that were now taking over the classroom.

Angela packed her things up and moved towards the door; the closer she got to him the more afraid she felt.

She had never seen Embry like this.

He turned on his heel and headed towards the exit.

She followed in silence, unsure of what else to do.

The whole drive to her house, he said nothing to her.

He just kept his eyes glued on the road, a tight grip on the steering wheel.

Even when they got to her bedroom, he just paced in front of her in silence.

Without a word.

Maybe he was waiting for her to say something?

Or maybe he just wasn't ready to speak yet.

But then it came.

"So what's changed?" He final turned and asked her.

She was a little surprised; she was expecting to be yelled at.

"Huh?" Angela didn't understand the question.

"So, everyone knows about Bella… what's different now? How are you in a better position than before? How has this solved anything?" He really wanted to know what she was thinking.

He wanted to understand her.

To hear her out.

"Nothing. Nothing at all… but I feel a little better." She said truthfully.

He just watched her, his body rigid and tall.

"…. I feel like I've brought her down a peg or two. Down to my level. Down to how I feel." She continued.

Angela knew how she sounded right now, but she saw no merit in sugar-coating the truth.

Even if he was angry for hearing it now, he wouldn't leave her.

She was his imprint.

He would forgive her eventually.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" She looked away from him stubbornly.

"You know what this rez is like, Angela. You know how people will treat her now. Bella's gonna go through hell and it will all be because of you. Are you okay with that?"

This time the anger began to build up in Angela; she didn't want to hear this type of shit right now.

"She isn't my best friend! She's a lying cheating fake! I hate her!" She threw her plush pillow forcefully at the wall; tears began to rush down her face.

Embry watched her like a stranger.

"Bella isn't…." He started, but he was cut off.

Angela's hands flew to her ears.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Stop saying her name! Bella, Bella, Bella! That's all I fucking hear!"

Angela began to shake.

She wanted to hate Bella.

Hate her for stealing her future with Paul away from her.

Stealing the one person who made her feel whole.

The bitch already had everything; brains, a guaranteed future, beauty **and money**!

Why the hell did she need Paul as well?

Why?

She was glad for what she had done to her; she deserved worse.

She could have done worse.

There was once a second when she had thought about it.

Only for a second.

She could have….

"I could have kille…" She didn't even have a chance to finish the sentence.

The slap came hard and fast, Angela collapsed on her bed in pain, clutching to her face.

The left side of her face was stinging.

She laid there in shock and disorientation for a few minutes.

What exactly just happened?

"What is wrong with you?" He asked her, staring at her the same way he had done when she first laid eyes on him in the classroom earlier.

As if she was somebody that he didn't know.

His words were heavy and she felt like she had a knot in her stomach.

He turned away from her, wiped his hands over his face once and approached her window.

Just before he left, Embry turned back to her and warned her slowly,

"Don't contact me for a while, not until you sort out whatever the hell's going on up here." He gestured to his own head. "Because something's _wrong_ with you. You're not the Angela I know."

Then he was gone.

She laid there in shock, staring at the window he had just left through.

She couldn't believe that Embry would slap her for _Bella's_ sake.

**Thoughts?  
Hey guys, I know this one was short but I thought it was best to leave it there.  
****We'll be back to Paul and Bella next chapter  
We'll get more of Angela in a couple of chapters.  
To get an idea of what Angela and Bella look like, check out the pics on my profile.  
Thanks for reading!**


	12. Why

**Previously with Paul and Bella…..**

"_Paul, why did y…." She trailed off as she realised that he wasn't listening, instead he was staring at the arm that was furthest away from him._

Bella's eyes widened when she realised what he had seen and tried to move her hand away from his sight. 

_He growled at her and grabbed her arm tightly. _

_His eyes were livid. _

"_What the fuck is this?!" He asked her, staring at the silver moon shaped bite marks. _

_She looked away from him and tried to think of something suitable to say._

"Don't even think of lying Bella or I swear to God I'll do something we'll both regret." Bella swallowed thickly. 

"_Paul, you're shaking, you need to get out of the…." The next thing she knew, she was being hauled out of the truck and into the woods._

_He had only meant to let go of her but instead he ended up dumping her onto the dirty, damp forest floor with the force he had used. _

_He really needed to control his strength. _

"_Now, tell me what that thing on your arm is!" he ordered, still shaking._

"_Paul, calm do…" She was cut off as his fist flew into a tree; he needed to expel his anger in some way otherwise he would phase. _

_He wouldn't be able to stop it. _

_The sound of the wood cracking startled Bella, making her shake with fear. _

_She covered her head and shivered on the forest floor. _

_He turned to her, unsure of what was happening. _

_And then it came, like a blow to the chest…._

"_Please don't hurt me again." She pleaded quietly; even he almost hadn't heard it. _

_She was afraid of him._

_His body stilled as he looked down at the quivering slip of a girl in front of him. _

_He noticed the bruising on her arms where he had gripped her as he dragged her into the woods as well as the ones that he had given her last night at the convenience store. _

"_Fuck." He said to mostly himself before he turned and left her there on the cold forest floor._

_Paul was conflicted, he wanted to be with her but he was just so unstable at the moment. _

_It was better to give her some space. She needed space. _

_Bella, oblivious to his intentions, cried into the forest floor with feelings of rejection and confusion.  
_

Why was everything so hard for them?

For her?

Why couldn't anything just be right?

Her arms were in pain; that made her cry even harder.

Why?

Why didn't her mother love her?

Why didn't Paul understand her?

Was he even trying to?

Why did Angela hate her so much that she was willing to go this far?

Why wouldn't **he **come back?

Why couldn't things just be okay?

They didn't have to be good; Bella wasn't greedy, she just wanted okay.

Regular.

When she was only presented with hardships that she could handle.

She couldn't handle _this_.

None of it.

Not at all.

Bella curled up on the forest floor and just breathed in and out for a while as the tension grew within her body.

Her hands flew to either side of her head and covered her ears, squeezing tight in a struggle to keep the thoughts that haunted her away…. But every once in a while, one would slip through the cracks.

"How could you leave me here?" She asked nobody.

"How am I supposed to get home?" She clutched harder to herself until it felt like she was pulling her back bone apart and squeezing her ribs into her heart.

She didn't care though, she liked the pain.

"Why are you so mean to me, Paul?" She mumbled; tears were flooding her eyes to the point at which she could no longer see.

"Why is everybody so mean to me?" Her sobs turned into a horrible wailing sound as she clutched her body tighter, too tight.

Her breaths were coming out in heavy pants as she struggled to keep control of her body; it was like survival 101; it just wouldn't let her self-destruct.

Her eyes fluttered open then closed and opened again.

"I wish I was never born." She murmured incoherently.

"I wish I was dead…. I….I…._I wish I was loved."_

She couldn't keep hold of her consciousness.

She could have sworn she heard a twig snap behind her but she was too far gone….

Her limbs were momentarily warmed which was odd; she shivered and moved closer to _the warm thing_.

The wind blew once on her face and she was lifted into the air; the movement of the thing holding her was smooth and fluent but she still wasn't awake.

Her brain_ still_ couldn't fully comprehend what was happening; it was a pretty long time before she hit something cold and soft and shivered again.

Her arms instinctively reached for _the warm thing_ again.

It froze where it was.

"Don't leave me." She mumbled; whatever it was, it comforted her.

It made her feel safe.

_The warm thing_ curled into bed with her; she tucked herself into its side and sniffed quietly until she fell into a deep sleep.

**-ARTIFICIAL-ARTIFICIAL-ARTIFICIAL-**

Bella woke a few hours later, feeling disorientated.

What had happened? She wasn't sure.

Her eyes moved around the unfamiliar room.

It obviously hadn't been decorated in a very long time but it was clean and tidy.

Everything seemed to have a place.

She knew exactly where she was; this was Paul's house.

Everything smelled like him.

Fresh and sorta edible.

Bella shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts and tried to sit up.

Her body felt tired and somewhat worn, as if she ran a marathon the day before.

She was also mentally exhausted.

Her eyes drifted to a figure lying on the floor next to the bed she had been asleep in.

A wolf.

For a split second she thought it was Paul; but then she knew that it wasn't.

She didn't feel anything.

When Paul was around, she always felt something.

A connection.

But she wasn't disappointed at all; in fact, she couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face.

They were just that fascinating.

The wolf looked up at her and its tongue flopped out of its mouth.

She let out a brief giggle.

"Who are you?"

Of course the wolf didn't answer, he just barked.

Bella smiled again weakly.

She angled her body towards the wolf and froze as the fabric she was wearing rode up a little.

Where were her clothes?

They were gone and were now replaced with a giant shirt and some basketball shorts that looked more like pants on her.

She just knew they were Paul's; she could smell him on them.

But where were her clothes?

"Paul put your stuff in the dryer, it was covered in dirt."

Bella's eyes widened, she was so busy looking down at her clothes that she hadn't noticed the wolf becoming a man.

"Oh. Okay." Was all she could reply.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

She nodded in response and stared into her lap since she wasn't exactly comfortable with him.

Sure they used to eat lunch together sometimes back when she was dating Embry, but that was where their relationship ended.

Besides, after today Bella wasn't exactly hoping to let anyone into her inner circle.

They would just hurt her.

Just like her mom.

Just like Angela.

Just like Paul.

"Bella?" her eyes darted up.

"Huh?"

"I said do you want something to eat? There's some leftover lasagne in the fridge." He offered again; she obviously hadn't heard him the first time.

"Oh… no thank-you. I'd rather just take a shower if that's okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Paul wouldn't mind… I think there're some spare towels in the cupboard next to the bathroom."

Bella thanked him before scurrying out of the room.

Jacob watched her tiny body disappear into the bathroom and waited until he could hear the water running before moving into the kitchen and snacking on two slices of lasagne.

He wondered how Bella was feeling.

Things weren't going too great for her lately.

Especially after today.

What the hell did Angela think she was doing anyway?

Pulling this kind of stunt.

It was fucking cowardly.

At least Paul had stepped up and controlled his anger to an extent this time.

**Flashback**

A familiar shiver throughout his body alerted Jacob to the fact that another one of his brothers had phased in.

A flood of memories hit his mind.

_You just left her there? How the hell is she gonna get home, Paul?- Jacob_

_Did you see that shit on her arm?! It was a bite! From a fucking blood sucker!- Paul_

If he could lose control a second time and phase again, he would probably have done so already.

A million questions ran through Paul's head.

_When did it happen?_

Why did it happen?

Was she okay?

How was she okay?

Why was she anywhere near a bloodsucker?

What if she had died?  
  
_Or worse, became one of them?  
_  
_Paul! Relax, she's okay. Bella's fine. Right now, what she needs is some help. You know what she went through today. She needs help- Jacob_

It was no use; Paul and his wolf were way too worked up right now to even hear what Jacob was saying.

**Mine!** The wolf raged and the man agreed.

_Paul, you need to run off some steam. Go destroy something. I'll go get Bella. I'll get her home safe. I promise- Jacob  
_  
_That _got Paul's attention.

_No, no I'll get her. Don't go near her!-_ Paul threatened before he phased out.

Usually, Jacob would have done just that but something made him follow Paul as he carried Bella in his arms back to his house.

Jacob could hear her murmuring something from afar but it wasn't clear.

Whatever it was, it was making Paul upset; that was for sure.

But it was different this time, he wasn't angry or shaking he just looked plain_ sad_.

He watched as Paul disappeared into his small house.

Jacob loitered around a couple of minutes before turning away.

He was on his way home when the voice chimed in his head.

"_Jacob."_ The wolf's steps faltered in surprise as Paul phased in again.

_Aren't you supposed to be with Bella?-_ Jacob

_I've got patrol-_ Paul

_I'll do it-_ Jacob

He even surprised himself by offering; he never usually covered anyone else's work.

But it was a fact that Bella and Paul really needed to work things out between them.

_No, I need to run off some steam. I'll be back before four so just watch over her before then. She probably won't even wake up anyway. She's exhausted_- Paul

In fact , Paul sounded just as worn out.

This was odd.

A while ago, he was threatening him to stay away from Bella and now, all of a sudden, he was asking Jacob to watch her?

What the hell had changed?

He had a feeling that it had had something to do with the things that Bella had been murmuring earlier.

_Okay, I'll watch her-_ Jacob

_Thanks man_-Paul  
**  
**

**Thoughts?  
I think Paul is starting to really care for Bella the way he should,  
what do you guys think?  
What do you think the next step for Paul and Bella should be?**


	13. Past

**A.n. Finally this day is almost over, I've never written FIVE chapters for ONE day before so this was an experience... and there's still a couple more to go. This is probably going to be the second to last part of the worst day in Bella's life…. So far**

Bella stood still as the water pelted her small body mercilessly.

It was refreshing yet somewhat painful.

But she didn't care.

She needed this.

She needed the water to wash away the shame that was currently coating her skin.

"What am I supposed to do now?" She muttered, asking nobody.

Bella leaned forward and rested her forehead against the cold tiled wall.

"I should've stayed in London…" The water continued to pelt her body.

"…I should never have come here…"

"….Things were better before."

Her mind drifted to another time.

**Flashback **

An eleven-year-old Bella stood at the front of the extravagant class-room; her eyes trained on the back wall as her new teacher introduced her to the class.

There were only five other people in her class; they were all clearly older than her.

Some of them greeted her with smiles, the others just stared.

Bella walked, almost robotically, to the only empty seat in the middle of the class.

Her chair was leather and very comfortable; her table was just the right height for her small frame which she was somewhat thankful for.

In the centre of the table was a notepad filled with thick high-quality paper with a black foundation pen placed beside it.

To the right of her pen were several more of different sizes; to the left of her notepad was an unopened chilled bottle of water along with a bowl of fresh, delicious looking fruits.

Bella looked around; the other students had the same arrangement of their tables.

She concluded that this must be the norm at this school.

The teacher began to go through some mathematic equations and Bella began to concentrate.

But she didn't need the notepad, she could remember after hearing or seeing everything once.

It was soon break-time and some of the other students began to bombard Bella with questions about her home-life, intelligence and past.

"Aren't you the Isabella Swan who got a degree at the age of eight?"

"Which universities have you been accepted at? **I've** been accepted at both Cambridge **and** Oxford."

"Where did you go to school before you came here?"

"You painted 'The French Table', did you not? My father and I saw it at The National Gallery last month. It was rather impressive."

Bella answered the questions in the simplest form that she could.

"Yes… Cambridge, Oxford, Yale and Harvard…. I was home-schooled… I did."

That was all.

She was not interested in them or their questions.

Her mother had ordered her to attend this school, learn and become even more intelligent than she already was.

So that was what she would do.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

So for the next few years Bella did just that.

She attended class, answered questions, wrote novels, created more world-class paintings, churned out soon-to-be famous poems, and answered almost impossible math equations all while obtaining a medical degree.

She hoped that her mother would be proud.

**End of flashback **

The Bella then had been a world away from the Bella now.

**She** was indifferent.

Unfeeling.

Cold, if you will.

But she never cried.

She never had reason to.

Then again, _that_ Bella didn't know how to love.

Not until she had become friends with Chloe anyway.

**Flashback  
**

Bella looked up in class and noticed that there was only one other girl left in the class with her.

_Chloe._

She was the tall white girl with naturally blonde hair; her body shape was somewhat aesthetically pleasing.

Chloe caught Bella staring and gave Bella a soft smile.

Her eyes widened and she decided that she would concentrate on what her teacher was saying.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Chloe had been the first friend that she had ever had.

The first time Chloe had talked to her; Bella had been annoyed and above all, confused.

She wondered why the other girl went to so much effort to start conversations with her despite her clipped attitude.

But soon Chloe began to grow on her and they had become friends.

Bella smiled to herself as the water pelted her back.

She was surprised at how clearly she could remember her relationship with Chloe.

They would learn together in school and then study more at each other's homes.

They just had so much in common; they were both geniuses.

Of course Bella was so much smarter but that didn't matter to either of them.

Chloe had been the one who helped Bella find out how she could do a blood test to figure out who her real parents were.

She was also very understanding when Bella told her that she was moving to Washington, onto the reservation that she originated from.

Bella had wanted to find out more about her culture, and she couldn't do that from London.

She wanted to experience real life in a real school with real regular students.

Above all, she wanted to do something that went against her mother's eyes.

Bella remembered how Chloe had just sat there and listened to her explain why she was leaving.

Then at the end, she had smiled her usual kind smile and told Bella to go for it.

"….Bella…. Bella….Bella! I'm coming in there!"

Jacob's panicked voice pulled her away from her memories.

"I'm fine, Jacob." She replied as she quickly hopped out from underneath the now cold water.

"Oh, well you've been in there a long time. You okay?" He sounded much more relieved now.

Of course, Paul would kill him if something happened to Bella.

"I'm fine, Jacob." She repeated. "I just spaced out for a second there."

She peered up at the clock in the corner of the now foggy room while she opened up a window.

"…. Or half an hour."

"Okay, well, I'll be on the couch."

"Okay, Jacob." Bella replied with a soft smile on her lips.

She quickly got dressed in the Paul's clothes again and went out to join Jacob on the couch.

They sat together in silence for a while staring at the television that neither of them were actually watching.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Bella asked tentatively, breaking the silence.

He looked to her and nodded encouragingly; she licked her lips and leaned forward.

"Why does he hate me, Jacob? I mean, what have I done?"

"Trust me, Bella. He doesn't hate you. He lo-_likes_ you. I think he just needs time."

"Away from what, Jacob? I'm not asking him for anything."

Jacob exhaled and wondered whether he should actually say what he was about to say.

Oh what the heck. He would deal with the consequences, if there were any, later on.

"Not away from you….. Maybe time to get used to you…. To your connection. Paul isn't like the rest of us, Bella."

He tried to ease her into it.

"What do you mean?"

Jacob fidgeted in his seat a little before continuing,

"How should I say this? He's more wolf. Less man."

"You mean he acts more on his instincts?" Bella tried to help him out.

"Exactly! He can't control himself as well as the rest of us. His wolf just takes over sometimes. And …he's Paul." Jacob finished lamely.

"Oh." Was all she could say.

"Just, be patient with him Bella. Please."

"I am Jacob. Like I said, I don't expect anything from him. It's just that sometime I wonder if…"

She trailed off; he was no longer looking at her.

He was staring at the moon-shaped scar on her wrist.

His fingers trace over it slowly.

"It's cold." He mused.

Bella nodded.

"How did you get it? If you don't mind me asking."

"You're gonna play this back to Paul later aren't you?"

"Not if you don't want me to." Jacob replied.

"Will you be able to keep it a secret?" She asked.

Jacob shook his head.

"Probably not."

"Then I'd rather not. I kinda want him to hear it directly from me."

Jacob smiled at her, "Fair enough."

And at that, the front door sprung open; Bella jumped a little in shock.

She noticed, in the corner of her eye, that Jacob had distanced himself from her.

Paul watched the other male for longer than usual before looking back to Bella.

Was this what Jacob meant?

"Paul." She breathed; for reasons unknown to her.

His eyes snapped from her body to her face.

"Bella." He replied, his voice smooth and somewhat arousing.

"Okay, I think this is where I leave… See you later, Bella." Jacob called, already heading out of the door.

"Huh? Oh, bye Jacob." Bella replied, but he was already gone.

Paul approached her slowly; her breath caught in her throat as he surrounded her.

His nose buried itself into the crook of her neck.

She sat, frozen and allowed him to scent her.

"Breathe Bella." He told her; she choked on the oxygen and spluttered.

He smirked and she was a little irritated.

But then his eyes caught sight of something that saddened him.

"Did I give you those?" He asked her, his hands already on her, tracing the bruises on her arm.

She slithered away from his touch. Embarrassed.

"Yes." She answered curtly.

She wanted to reassure him, tell him that she bruised easily…..

But that would be lying.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." _I never mean to hurt you. _

She looked down at her hands as she replied.

"S'okay. They don't hurt anymore." Tears pooled in her eyes.

Paul leaned down and kissed the bruises tenderly.

"I'm really sorry, Bella. I'll be more careful with you from now on. I'll be better." He promised, and she believed him.

"Okay." She nodded and let the tears fall.

That was it.

Paul's limit.

He was on her, lifting her small body into his lap and holding her tightly as she cried.

She was so broken.

And it was all his fault.

"I'm so sorry, Bella." He told her sincerely.

Then he felt something that he didn't expect; one of her small arms snaked around his body and held him tightly as she fell apart in his lap.

**Paul and Bella will finally get to speak in the next chapter. Yay! Lol!  
And then we will be going back to crazy Angela and how she's coping with her lack of Embry :L**


End file.
